Republican Senate leader Ron Ramsey said Monday the Senate should launch its own probe into allegations against Sen. Pete Cooper.
He noted that Sen. Cooper was not charged in a federal case in Chattanooga, but he said his name was brought up in the investigation.
Sen. Ramsey said, "Earlier today, I received the formerly sealed indictment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chattanooga. The document appeared to indicate that the owner of a lumber mill in Smartt, Tn., was mentioned as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case of U.S. v. Anthony Clement Auyer, Teresa Rikard Auyer and James B. Passons.
"Under our Senate Rules of Order, the Senate Ethics Committee has the authority to initiate its own investigations, and I feel that at this point and time, it would be appropriate for the Senate Ethics Committee to start the process of looking into probable cause for Sen. Jerry Cooper. Let me stress that there has been no indictment of Sen. Cooper, and our responsibility is to look into possible ethics violations of our Senate Rules of Order that may stem from the federal indictment.
"What we as a committee don’t want to do is to interfere with any ongoing federal investigations or prosecutions."
Sen. Cooper is a Democrat from Smartt, Tn., whose district includes Franklin, Bledsoe, Coffee, Grundy,
Sequatchie, Van Buren and Warren counties.